General Education Council
Minutes
4.26.04 

Council present:
B. Stone-Applied Arts
C. McCall-Education
M. Bell-Student Rep.
D. Glassman-Chair Rep.
K. Knox-Health Professions
T. Hindson-Liberal Arts
J. Crawford-Chair Rep.
R. Northcutt-Science
M. Hennessy-Liberal Arts
D. Flaherty-Business Administration
D. Showalter-Business Administration
V. Sriraman-Science
S. Ogletree-Liberal Arts
Guest:
Q. Thurman
R. Earl
B. Augustin
Council absent:
D. Perkins-Applied Arts
D. Wiley-Education
C. Friedrich-Student Rep.
B. Melzer-Health Professions
T. Mottet-Fine Arts and Communication
R. Stein-Fine Arts and Communication 

Meeting convened at 3:31 p.m.  

Motion:
R. Brown asked for a motion to approve the minutes from April 12th.  D. Flaherty so moved.  R. Northcutt seconds the motion.  The April 12^th minutes were approved as prepared. 

Geography Proposal (Physical Geography 1410 included as Natural Science (NS))
Discussion:
-Geography courses can be found in all of the following components: Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences and Natural Sciences
-Is it a basic science?
-Maybe Anthropology needs to be re-examined
-Should natural sciences be only natural or basic-Chemistry, Physics, Biology
-The proposal does meet the revision criteria
-If a foundation science is required will the Council reexamine Physical Anthropology and Astronomy courses
-Physical Anthropology is a biologically based study—laws of science with natural science component content
-Need to look at each NS course individually
-Students from other universities can transfer physical geography to Texas State and have it count as NS credit
-Student can take physical geography here and have it transfer to some other institutions as NS credit
-Physics and Chemistry background are essential
-Do we want something unique to Texas State or a melting pot
-Geology and Physical Geography are approached and studied in the same way
-Issues covered in Physical Geography benefit any student—human impact, earth system manner, global warming, etc.
-If Chemistry and Physics are set aside then Physical Geography is as much a non-physical course as Biology and Anthropology
-M. Bell shared with the Council the following: Definition of Physical Geography and other course information
-Look at what should be taken at Texas State
-We have wonderful courses here, but should they be in the core curriculum
-Each institution is entitled to define its own core curriculum
-As the ASG student representative M. Bell shared the petition signed by students to include Physical Geography to the NS component
Recommendation:
General Education Subcommittee Report – Geography Proposal 

The members of the General Education subcommittee to review the Geography proposal concerning the use of Physical Geography as a Science Perspective met on April 5, 2004, discussed the issue and determined the following: 

1. The subcommittee recommends that the General Education Committee decide if the “Natural Science Perspective” is to be satisfied only by a “natural or basic science”? 

a. If the decision is yes, then Physical Geography does not satisfy that criteria. 

In addition, earlier approvals of the Physical Anthropology and Astronomy courses need to be reconsidered. 

b. If the decision is no, then Physical Geography does satisfy the criteria to be a Science Perspective course. The subcommittee recommends that geography majors not be allowed to count this course as their Science Perspective.

2. The subcommittee recommends that a similar condition should be placed on the Physical Anthropology course not being used as a Science Perspective by anthropology majors.

While not in the subcommittee’s charge, the members do feel that the three courses (Physical Anthropology, Physical Geography, and Astronomy) should be re-examined and closely monitored. The locations of these courses in different areas over the State (humanities, social sciences, and sciences) and varying content make determination of the basic science nature of these courses and their transferability very difficult. Many of the courses at other institutions are restricted to a narrow aspect of their field and course-by-course review is doubtful. It is not a question of whether these various areas are sciences (basic or broad); rather what should the Science Perspective should be at Texas State.  

Motion:
R. Northcutt recommends that Physical Geography not be approved as a Natural Science at this time.  D. Flaherty seconds the motion. 

Discussion:
-The criteria are broad and can be taken either way
-We already have a big distribution that is not pure or the fundamental 3 classes
-Need to clarify the criteria and the policy  

For: 8  Opposed: 1   Abstained: 3 

The subcommittee considering Introduction to Criminal Justice as a course in the Social and Behavior Science Component (SBSC) voted 2 to 1 against including this course as an SBSC course. 

Here are the reasons for excluding CJ 1310 from the SBSC: 

1) Not enough emphasis is given to how to conduct social science research. While certainly primary sources such as the Uniform Crime Reports and the National Crime Victimization Survey as well as self-reports are used in Criminal Justice, our concern is that the social science methodology itself is not given adequate attention. 

2) Minimal social science theory and perspective were included in the two texts that Dr. Thurman supplied as texts most likely to be used. 

3) We are concerned with the breadth of the course; this course seems to be narrowly focusing on a social science perspective in an applied area. 

The member voting to include CJ 1310 gives the following reasons: 

1) Dr. Thurman indicated that CJ majors would continue to take another SBSC course as in the "gentleman's" agreement among the departments in Liberal Arts. 

2) Dr. Thurman gave several examples illustrating how the scientific method is addressed in CJ 1310. The committee member felt that this was more coverage than in the introduction to anthropology course. 

3) The committee member felt this course was no more applied than economics and anthropology, and teaching our students to objectively question/examine our policies related to crime and incarceration is important. 
 

The subcommittee also wishes to make available to committee members the substance of a recent e-mail received from Dr. Thurman, which is copied below: 

Thanks for the opportunity to meet with your subcommittee yesterday to discuss the proposal to include Introduction to Criminal Justice as a general education course. It was I believe a fruitful discussion. And as you suggested, I wanted to email some additional comments to further clarify the intent of our proposal and address any other issues that other Gen Ed committee members may have when they meet to decide this issue. 

A similar if not identical course to the one which we are proposing is included at many Tier 1 institutions as the list of Universities that include Criminal Justice as a Social and Behavioral Sciences Requirements shows. Furthermore, as we discussed, the discipline of Criminal Justice and the specific course we have proposed are routinely taught from a social science perspective by social scientists who have received Ph.D.s in typically sociology, psychology, political science, or criminology (although on this campus both Dr. Verna Henson and myself as those who most regularly teach this course earned our doctorates in sociology). The course itself is the gateway course that encompasses all of the foundational issues relevant for understanding unconvential behavior and the processes and institutions sanctioned by society to manage it. As such, the course as we teach it includes coverage on legality and due process protections, an introduction to understanding criminological explanations for crime, the research methods used to assess the empirical world (through aggregate, survey research, and program evaluation data), and of course exposure to the social control institutions that society employs to detect, apprehend, prosecute, and punish offenders. Having passed through this course, our majors would then go on to take required courses in research methods and statistics, among other courses in victimology/criminology, and legal issues associated with the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th amendments to the U.S. Constitution. We would presume that other majors who take this course would take similar courses in their majors that would afford them greater familiarity with scientific approaches in their disciplines that would help them to objectively assess data that could help them make informed decisions as working professionals, lifelong learners, and as citizens. 

As we discussed, I see Criminal justice 1310 as a very compatible course with others that already are included in the Gen Ed sequence of introductory courses. However, this said, we would not want our majors to take our course as a substitute for the courses that already appear on this list. Rather, we see CJ 1310 as another course that our students would be required to take in addition to those already listed so that they could derive the benefits of being more broadly educated than would be the case if they as majors only were to take our introductory class to meet the Gen Ed requirement. We also are very interested in having CJ 1310 as general education course for the diversity that be created by having non-majors participate in the course. Other students from other majors could add perspective to the issues discussed in class that sometimes are lacking. 

Please know that if you believe that my presence at the next Gen Ed meeting where this issue will be decided would help to provide direct feedback to additional questions that you anticipate I would be happy to be there. Thanks again for the opportunity to meet with you! 

Discussion:
-Scientific method used
-To what extent is basic or applied used
-Traditional vs. applied objectives listed-Q. Thurman presented the Council with 3 points:

1. They use aggregate data
2. Example of texts-plus information not included in the text
3. How and why society spends resources

-CJ uses research, but how to do it is not in the book
-Specific cases are data driven
-Social aspect is narrow to criminal aspect of our society as a whole  

Motion:
S. Ogletree recommends that Criminal Justice 1310 not be included as a Social Science Core Curriculum course.  D. Flaherty seconds the motion. 

For: 8  Opposed: 1  Abstained: 3 

Future Issues:
-GE expectations for this institution
-Summer conversation with Provost and President
-Who only takes courses at Texas State and nowhere else—few especially with dual credit
-New rule—if a student drops a course twice and it is on record the 12^th class day and they take it a third time then they have to pay out of state tuition
-Have 1 meeting per month this summer 

Meeting adjourned at 4:56 p.m.